Kenyan Fintech Cloud9 Secures $500K Pre-Seed Funding From Crypto Accelerator Alliance
The Nairobi-headquartered digital banking platform brings its total pre-seed capital to $1 million as it expands cross-border payment corridors and card issuance for African merchants.
NAIROBI — Kenyan digital banking and cross-border payments platform Cloud9 has secured $500,000 in pre-seed capital from Alliance, a New York-headquartered web3 accelerator and founder community.
The capital injection forms part of Cloud9’s ongoing $1 million pre-seed round, which has also attracted participation from global venture accelerator Techstars alongside select angel investors.
Digital Banking Infrastructure for African Merchants
Founded in late 2025 by serial tech entrepreneurs Tesh Mbaabu and Mesongo Sibuti, Cloud9 operates a unified financial platform designed to integrate business banking, cross-border payments, and operational tools tailored for informal retailers and small businesses across Africa.
The founders previously built Y Combinator-backed B2B e-commerce platform MarketForce. Prior to establishing Cloud9, Mbaabu and Sibuti co-founded conversational commerce startup Chpter, which Cloud9 subsequently absorbed through an all-stock acquisition in August 2026. Cloud9 also previously acquired event ticketing platform MTickets in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately KES 100 million ($773,000).
Cross-Border Expansion and Product Roadmap
The new funding from Alliance will be deployed toward scaling Cloud9's cross-border payment corridors, launching virtual and physical payment cards, refining product interface features, and driving merchant acquisition across target regional markets.
By combining banking infrastructure, multi-currency trade accounts, and financial software into a single interface, Cloud9 aims to lower cross-border trade friction and expand global market participation for African enterprises.
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